Silk PJ's

Has anyone ever made them?
What would be the best sort of silk to use?
How difficult is it to work with silk?

Had a random thought/idea to make DH some silk PJ's
and was wondering if it was a 'Good Idea' or not.

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol

Charmeuse is my favorite, but it's slippery as the dickens to work with.
You could use silk broadcloth, too.

Be aware, it's not the strongest fiber to use, if you want your fine
work to stick around for awhile, unless you're planning to launder them
on "gentle" every single time.

Karen Maslowski in Ohio

melinda wrote:
Has anyone ever made them?
What would be the best sort of silk to use?
How difficult is it to work with silk?

Had a random thought/idea to make DH some silk PJ's
and was wondering if it was a 'Good Idea' or not.

On 30 Dec 2004 01:07:11 GMT, melinda wrote:
Has anyone ever made them?
What would be the best sort of silk to use?
How difficult is it to work with silk?

Depends on what you want. Silk ranges from gossamer-sheer, breathe on it
and it tries to move away from the sewing machine needle, to heavy brocades
that can stand up in the corner all by themselves. I'd probably use crepe
de chine, silk broadcloth, or silk twill... silk twill would probably be the
easiest to sew.

Be aware that silk is a strong fiber when you're talking about breaking
strength, but isn't very abrasion resistant. If DH wears out particular
areas in cotton pjs (often the upper back), they'll go even faster in
silk.

Silk thickness is described in mm or momee -- higher numbers are heavier.

Karen Maslowski wrote:
Charmeuse is my favorite, but it's slippery as the dickens to work with.
You could use silk broadcloth, too.

I know it is, I've made stuff with charmeuse before.

Be aware, it's not the strongest fiber to use, if you want your fine
work to stick around for awhile, unless you're planning to launder them
on "gentle" every single time.

Karen Maslowski in Ohio

Washing on gentle isn't a problem, if it doesn't end in a gentle
cycle load then it'll go in a lingerie bag, most of my delicates do.

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol

Kay Lancaster wrote:
On 30 Dec 2004 01:07:11 GMT, melinda wrote:
Has anyone ever made them?
What would be the best sort of silk to use?
How difficult is it to work with silk?

Depends on what you want. Silk ranges from gossamer-sheer, breathe on it
and it tries to move away from the sewing machine needle, to heavy brocades
that can stand up in the corner all by themselves. I'd probably use crepe
de chine, silk broadcloth, or silk twill... silk twill would probably be the
easiest to sew.

Be aware that silk is a strong fiber when you're talking about breaking
strength, but isn't very abrasion resistant. If DH wears out particular
areas in cotton pjs (often the upper back), they'll go even faster in
silk.

Silk thickness is described in mm or momee -- higher numbers are heavier.

He sleeps like a log most nights, which is why I'd consider this for him
but not for me I toss and turn like a washing machine.

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol

melinda wrote:

Karen Maslowski wrote:
Charmeuse is my favorite, but it's slippery as the dickens to work with.
You could use silk broadcloth, too.

I know it is, I've made stuff with charmeuse before.

Be aware, it's not the strongest fiber to use, if you want your fine
work to stick around for awhile, unless you're planning to launder them
on "gentle" every single time.

Karen Maslowski in Ohio

Washing on gentle isn't a problem, if it doesn't end in a gentle
cycle load then it'll go in a lingerie bag, most of my delicates do.

--
Melinda


For men's pyjamas you might want to consider a heavy habutai silk or
else a silk jersey. They are both quite durable; I've got a couple of
silk jersey undershirts meant to wear under heavy sweaters. They have
survived 10 years of hard wear and machine washing. Starting to wear
thin around the seams but that's all.
Men sometimes think charmeuse is a bit 'girly'....

Try looking at the Thai Silks site, or better yet, contact it and ask
what would be the best for men's pjs. These people are great. We once
were doing a wedding party for one of my students' senior collection,
and needed to match a particularly difficult color. We sent a swatch,
and it was matched perfectly. They can tell you which types and dyes
will be color fast and suitable.

Teri

Hi Melinda,

Try raw silk of a good heavyweight when you buy it. It usually washes
into the wonderful soft stuff that does not wrinkle if you take it out
of the dryer before it's completely dry. Might be hard to get these OFF
the DH...

It wears pretty well too, if the threads are not too chopped up before
spinning (check for lack of rough knotty nubbles, but there will be
small bumps). The colours range from denim shades to good buy types
like olives, browns, etc.

Irene

melinda wrote:
Has anyone ever made them?
What would be the best sort of silk to use?
How difficult is it to work with silk?

Had a random thought/idea to make DH some silk PJ's
and was wondering if it was a 'Good Idea' or not.

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol